How to Scout in StarCraft 2 (Guide for Beginners)

[@Altercate]

Hi everyone, thanks for watching. Keep in mind that these are the basic principles of scouting, not a recipe for how to scout. To keep this video as short as possible, I ended up cutting a LOT of material - the first draft of the script would have been *two hours long* lol. Instead of just listing a bunch of cheese builds and how to counter them, I wanted to make a video that will explain how scouting works, so that you can apply these principles to ANY build order. By studying your replays and learning more about the game, it is possible to figure out how to anticipate ANY strategy, and that’s what I want to try to teach you. Also keep in mind that the timings and specific interpretations mentioned in the video aren’t set in stone. They’re just guidelines. Everything depends on what your needs are - in other words, what are you looking for? If you have any questions or comments, let me know! And thanks for supporting me. 😍

[@seniorwhite8324]

I only have a low end PC, in which I play league of legends all day. I want to expand my games a bit in which I found Starcraft 2, it's nice to know even if the game is 10 years old, it's still okay to start playing and not feel left out since there's a lot of guys like you which are willing to teach new players. Thanks man!

[@Altercate]

I'm glad I could help, and good luck with the game! 😀 FYI, a lot of skilled players actually play SC2 on the lowest graphics settings because it makes it easier to tell what's going on a lot of the time. It's not my personal preference but it's quite common!

[@dwightyoung2291]

You know, this *should* be in the fucking tutorial. I didn't know why you should scout and what to look for up to this day.

[@Altercate]

Yup, so much of how to play the game competitively isn't taught by the game at all, unfortunately... It's a shame because these principles have been known since Brood War. That's why I want to try to help new players understand this game. SC2 is hard enough to learn already, it doesn't help that you don't even know what you're supposed to be doing!

[@dwightyoung2291]

@@Altercate good old times lol I remember playing in AI 4v4 match on island maps just so I can let them suffer while I build up a fleet in the slowest, dumbest fashion possible *while my dad found it fun to cannon rush AI*

[@StraightOuttaPaddock]

im trying to learn this game, it hard not gonna lie, but this is helpful

[@Altercate]

Thank you! Yep, this is a very hard game to master. The key is to not set your expectations too high at the start. Easier said than done, but try to enjoy the learning process and don't worry too much about winning or losing. 😊

[@fixel5578]

@@Altercate keep content going and dont get distracted by not having a lot of subs yet...

[@dude502]

@@Altercate ye same I get into versus games with randoms and I feel like I’m doing good than a cloacked Benchy comes and ruins my day

[@coreymonk]

Definitely tough... I'm so ADD, not sure why I'm beating my head on this one lol

[@Harleymon]

These videos are so awesome, you made sc2 digestible for me

[@Altercate]

Thank you so much! I'm glad you found them helpful! 😀

[@mrschwee12]

I can't believe you're still only at 1,5k subs with this quality of Content. Thanks for the great tutorials, really helpful and easy to understand! Keep it up

[@Altercate]

Thank you so much for saying that! Glad I could help. 😀

[@quinn1756]

Ughhhh finally. I always wondered how people were able to scout what a building was. I always tried like thinking about the amount of tiles it took up or the shape of the blob early on, I had tried targeting it but I did not have the option enabled. I would watch this entire video just to learn that alone.

[@Altercate]

Glad I could help! 😀

[@sethdotexe6346]

such a huge help. the hardest part about learning SC2 has been knowing where to start learning the basics to practice important skills like this.

[@Altercate]

Glad I could help! Good luck with the game and have fun :)

[@joebob4579]

thanks you are my main sc2 teacher, only do techniques properly after your vids, also take notes from u

[@Altercate]

Thank you so much! I'm glad my videos were helpful to you. 😀

[@rjg27]

By far my favourite guides on this game. This newbies learned SO much with ur macro videos already, and now this! Thank you so much, Altercate :)

[@Altercate]

Thank you for saying that! I'm glad I could help 😀

[@mws12345]

Your videos are really good, they may not have the view counts just yet but give it time. You're making extremely good content, even players who already know this stuff that watch should admit this is good stuff. Thank You Altercate.

[@Altercate]

Thank you so much, that means a lot to me! I'll keep working hard 😀

[@wolfinnigth]

I don't know why this epic quality guide has soo little views, but thank you for efforts and so clear guide (and nice audio)!

[@Altercate]

Thank you for saying that! 😀

[@shleeep74]

I felt the end of the video. Recently scouted a terran early expansion under 1:30. Sat back on 1 base and didnt expand. I just built a small army and went after him and won. The worker scout got me that victory.

[@Altercate]

Awesome feeling, isn’t it? :)

[@franciszekmetrycki9482]

Good to hear that, "you are not here to kill workers" which was my main goal as first reaper, thanks for great video😊

[@aldunlop4622]

Honestly I can't give you enough praise for your videos. The content, narration and editing are superb. No silly music or over the top yelling, just well presented content. You deserve many more subscribers my friend, I wish you all the best and encourage you to make more videos on topics you enjoy!

[@Altercate]

Wow, thank you so much! That really means a lot to me :)

[@IzzetNilson]

Really glad I found this channel. I've played this game for years but not once ever considered going competitive until after I picked it up again. I'm really bad at scouting (never done it ever) but I might give it a shot next time I play against some bots for practice.

[@Altercate]

Awesome! Good luck :)

[@meistersanchez4994]

I really like your videos. Clear structure, speech and video/animation just fit perfectly together and most important I think you just hit the right amount of information in your videos!

[@meistersanchez4994]

And, I kind of gave up already, to really get into SC2. My brain is just not good at this amount of multitasking. I still enjoy watching your videos on how things would be done correctly, though :)

[@Altercate]

@@meistersanchez4994 Thank you so much for your kind words! It means a lot to me to get that kind of feedback. ❤ I understand how you feel about the multitasking - if you're not enjoying it you're not enjoying it. Do you watch pro games? It can be really fun to follow the pro scene even if you're not playing the game! 😀

[@meistersanchez4994]

@@Altercate I watched a couple of games and those guys are insane! But I guess that's why they are pros... hahaha :)

[@Altercate]

@@meistersanchez4994 Yep. The things they can do are beyond the reach of most people. 😂

[@HieronymousLex]

This is by far the best video on scouting I’ve seen, its exactly the kind of guide sc2 needs. Super useful, thank you. And I can tell how much work went into the script. It’s clear you cared a lot about delivering a quality guide, and it’s not an easy subject to approach by _any_ means.

[@thedonger6299]

plat2 protoss here, you really helped me out. i got super confused how and with what unit to scout but i will try to scout with the first adept now too! thanks a lot mate and have a good day

[@Altercate]

That's awesome! Glad I could help :)

[@Gildegaar]

This guide is insane, great job!

[@Altercate]

Thank you so much! 😀

[@DamsdelDrennon]

Thanks so much for the guides, it really helps getting a grasp on the game and its strategies. Your efforts to make things understandable and digestible really remove the apprehension of getting started. Please keep it up and take care.

[@Altercate]

Thank you so much! Love hearing that it's helping people get into the game 😍

[@wexlbex]

Hey Altercate! IMO you have the best SC2 Tutorials on youtube, really. But I feel like you went from techning fundamentals to making very in-depth game knowledge assumptions real quick. Would love to see something in between. Keep it up!

[@Altercate]

Hi there! Thank you for your kind words and for your feedback! I'm always looking to better understand how I can help people learn, so I appreciate it! What kind of information would you like to see me cover?

[@wexlbex]

@@Altercate Thank you for replying! Hmm there's so much I don't know. - My first ever build order? - Building Placement? - Micro Basics? These are just the things I don't understand the most haha

[@Altercate]

@@wexlbex Thanks for sharing! Starting build orders and building placement are both topics I have planned for future videos! 😀

[@Brightus5254]

Dude can I just say, your content is incredible and you should have the highest recognition amongst this community, you have helped me so much, thankyou for that 😇 keep at it

[@Altercate]

Thank you so much for your kind words! You just made my day 😍

[@robotman2530]

Glad to see another person dedicating time to help players in this game. Well made vid, thanks

[@Altercate]

Thank you for saying that! 😀

[@ignaciojimenez4786]

I'm glad to see you went up 6000 subscribers in less than a year. This is very very high quality

[@Altercate]

Thank you so much! I'm glad I could help some people learn this game :)

[@MyBricks4you]

I really love your videos, they are very clear and full of great info!

[@Altercate]

Thank you so much! I'm glad they've been helpful! 😀

[@shawnruby7011]

Thanks, I don't play at all but I was never good so it's good to know so I can follow along easier when I watch

[@Altercate]

Glad I could help! 😀

[@Mal2103]

Another quality video. Scouting is one of the things I need to personally improve on. Thanks for making this. :)

[@Altercate]

Thank you for taking the time to say that! It always makes me happy to hear that my videos are helping someone 😀

[@bengrare2011]

Hey ! Hello and thank you from France ! Your videos allow me to practice both my english skills and my comprehension of the game

[@Altercate]

That's awesome! I'm glad I can help on both accounts 😂

[@mrmeow2297]

Look who’s back

[@Altercate]

They can't keep me down! 😂

[@briankim2555]

This is extremely helpful, hope this comment helps with the algorithm

[@Altercate]

Thank you so much! 😀

[@Darkness_7193]

This video already great, because early I wasn't know that i can select enemy units. Protoss and zerg tech was absolute mystery for me, diamond terran :D

[@0baakYT]

3 minutes in and already impressed by the editing, quality, composure, everything. please do better marketing, Twitter or whatever you can to blow this channel up. you deserve it

[@Altercate]

Thank you so much, that means a lot to me to hear :)

[@saccular]

hey man loving these videos! i’ve been playing and watching starcraft games for years ever since i was a teenager. i’ve played a lot of coop, campaign, and arcade, and at one point I did try ladder and got to platinum, (mainly from rushes as a zerg lol).After watching this year’s Katowice and seeing Reynor win, I started to think if I could finally get the courage to play Ranked 1v1 in a more standard sense, where I focus on the learning process. Thank you for making these insightful videos, subbed!

[@Altercate]

Thank you for sharing, and thank you for your support! Yep, this is an amazing game, and the quality of the professional play is just getting better every year, it's crazy. I have a lot more videos planned. Good luck with the game and have fun. 😀

[@saccular]

@@Altercate can’t wait for the upcoming starcraft content!

[@MrTonkiee]

Great guide from the master of guides! :)

[@Altercate]

😍

[@benniesatto1678]

great guide ! quality is top notch. thx so much for this. i have been struggling with scouting and was just scouting once or twice in the early game. definitely hard to keep going with macro at home while looking at the info. often i would send the scout across the map and because was too focus on macro, let him die XD. anyway gl hf ! commented, liked and subscribed.

[@Altercate]

Thank you so much! Good luck with the games, scouting is definitely a tough one and it takes a lot of practice before it starts to feel natural. Keep trying and eventually it'll get easier! 😀

[@ivandimarco94]

Simply great scouting tutorial! SC II still has it…

[@Altercate]

Thank you! Glad I could help!

[@jgb6888]

I am saving this video along with several other of your videos! Great stuff.

[@Altercate]

Thank you so much! 😀

[@ahhkekeke]

Interesting what you learn watching a master....

[@Altercate]

LOL, thanks bro!

[@maker8172]

Thank you very much! Such a well put together vid and extremely informative for beginners/novice players!! Thank you

[@Altercate]

Thank you! Glad I could help :)

[@llenunz]

great video , love how detail it is! i will definitely use this to develop my scouting mindset

[@Altercate]

Thank you so much! I'm glad I could help 😀

[@fixel5578]

You are underrated, your content is very helpfull and as you Say "dont get distracted in matches" im gonna Say dont get distracted with people that have much more subs, keep content going and i know you cant upload every Day and i know these videos are very quality Edit but dont lose mind and keep making those videos and you will keep on getting more subscribers :D

[@Altercate]

Thank you so much for your kind words and your support! I appreciate it 😀

[@samddm69]

i undervalued the importance of scouting... thx man

[@pablovirus]

Honestl I only played SC1 and 2 for the campaigns and custom maps because I absolutely sucked at stantard multiplayer. With your guides I think I am ready to start trying to beat human opponents. Thanks a lot ♥

[@Altercate]

Awesome! Good luck and have fun! 😀

[@henrikpettersson2886]

Excellent video series for beginners. Thx!

[@Altercate]

Glad I could help! 😀

[@spidermastermoe]

Great tutorial, please keep them coming!

[@Altercate]

Thank you, glad I could help! 😀

[@uniquenpc854]

Thanks for taking the time to make this

[@Altercate]

Glad I could help! 😀

[@poot6760]

These vids are really amazing and useful, thanks so much for them!

[@nargaman261]

After many painfull lessons, i started to allways let at least 2 zerglings look for proxys as soon as possible

[@Altercate]

Good habit! I know a lot of Zerg players also send their 2nd Overlord to look around their own natural and 3rd base to spot cannon rush and other troublesome stuff. 😀

[@tiofreak4283]

This is so helpful, thanks for all your guides,, can you teach us how to improve our micro next time?

[@Altercate]

Thanks for watching! I have a micro video planned, but there are a few other SC2 guides I want to do first, so it might be a while before I get to it! 😀

[@tiofreak4283]

@@Altercate Really? i will look every single one of your new videos, thank you so much.

[@Altercate]

@@tiofreak4283 Thank you for your support! 😀

[@tomimontana3827]

ur a legend for these videos fr

[@Altercate]

Thank you so much! 😀

[@baldabibizuk7052]

love yours vids

[@Altercate]

Thank you so much! 😀

[@Yoshimitsu_Tera]

Wow what a great video. super glad i found this

[@Altercate]

Thanks you so much! Glad I could help, and good luck with the game :)

[@CalebBrown228]

Nice job!

[@Altercate]

Thanks! 😀

[@Sokrydes]

Great Tutorials!

[@Altercate]

Thank you so much! Glad I could help 😀

[@keksv5135]

Good video, i will never see scout of the same way

[@Altercate]

Thanks, hope it helps you!

[@tonyb5536]

Thanks for the help 👍

[@bruno1554]

GREAT VIDEO!

[@megavergatario1]

I love u man !!! thanks for this video

[@hellmutmatheus2626]

Sir your content is the best

[@Altercate]

That’s very kind of you to say! :)

[@ManyAGiggle]

Youre a legend

[@Altercate]

Thank you so much! 😀

[@rinopro5556]

You're super duper underrated

[@Altercate]

Thank you so much! 😍

[@Iddy267]

12 pool is not an all in, its a macro build order, it leaves you with enough minerals to make a 2nd base as soon as your lings are out and then you can use your lings to secure yourself a lead by droning behind it. You rarely make more than 3 pairs of lings when doing a 12 pool and if you do then you're all in. But 12 pool is actually a high level build order for zvp mostly and it makes sure that you get ahead and nullifies any aggression that the protoss could think of doing.

[@nofidej]

Minecraft, Chess had their resurrection time, now I want the same for StarCraft :p

[@Altercate]

It's about time! 😀

[@tigran010]

It's because of memes , i dont think Starcraft have a good meme potential cos of how it's hard to find something funny in "serious" RTS

[@ANUD01]

Well explained

[@Mike-iz6li]

also an amazing video : ) i go add these vids to my favorite.

[@Altercate]

Glad you like them! :)

[@TheSwordfish-g3r]

Great!

[@Altercate]

Thank you! 😀

[@rodolfoxavierneto6667]

Just a small correction, reapers are no the only cliff climber, Colossus can do it too. Not a early game unit though

[@Altercate]

True! :)

[@exarskelington74]

Love your guides. Subscribed already. But I wanted to ask: Do you know how to fix that infinite loading window when I launch stc2?

[@Altercate]

Thank you for your support! Sorry, unfortunately not! It's not a problem I'm familiar with. 😔

[@exarskelington74]

@@Altercate No problem.

[@smorgasborgas]

Can you do a video on timing attacks?

[@Altercate]

Sure! Might take me a while to get the video out, though. Timing attacks is one of the most complicated subjects in StarCraft and I wanna make sure I do it justice.

[@pacer1705]

The worker scout is what I see frequently in Starcraft games.

[@Altercate]

I highly recommend worker scouting, for sure! 😀

[@koreanbbq6253]

The barracks scout killed me

[@Altercate]

They'll never see it coming! 🤣

[@gosseuffe]

Good work

[@Altercate]

Thanks :)

[@sandal9405]

Before this video I thought the main purpose of reaper is to kill as muck workers as you can

[@uselesscommon7761]

I feel like there should be a mention of an strategy of 'defense' alongside 'aggression', 'greed', and 'technology’. Countered by greed/technology, probably.

[@thezzach]

I’m just finding your excellent sc2 videos and see that they’re 3 years old. What happened? I hope you’re ok. I would love to see you be ag sc2 commentator!

[@mr_gus_senior9092]

amazing thx you so much

[@Greenday5494]

Good video

[@matthewheadland7307]

This video is legit

[@complexone2542]

Dec 2024 and this is STILL VALUE PACKED.

[@gosseuffe]

Nice.

[@nahruz.w3044]

25:47 its the terran turn to lose, did i heard this wrong or what. Anyway this is a sincere comment altercate, don't take it the wrong way

[@nahruz.w3044]

Thanks for the scouting tips, its take a long time for me to figure this out without someone telling me. Timing attack from your opponent are lethal when you are just starting out in SC2.

[@Altercate]

@@nahruz.w3044 Haha, I guess my speaking was a bit unclear. What I said was "It's the Terran's game to lose" = in other words, it's going to be very hard for the Zerg to come back from this. 😊

[@nahruz.w3044]

@@Altercate Aightt, I looked up an online dictionary and now understood what it meant ^o^ "His game to lose" : "It means that someone is winning by so much, that the only way he could lose at that point would be if he defeated himself, i.e. by 'choking' or 'dropping the ball.'"

[@Altercate]

@@nahruz.w3044 You got it! I try to avoid complicated phrases in my scripts, because I want everyone to be able to understand my videos even if they aren't native English speakers, but sometimes I get carried away. 😂

[@flrn84791]

Great video, but the examples especially for zerg are not very realistic, you comment on what they have given everyone's vision, whereas overlords will probably not see everything, and a 1:30 scout unless done with a drone which is rare is not possible. Maybe it would have been more helpful with games where the player actually scouted?

[@bkizers]

How to split and control your army

[@gagagag7051]

Ok he has immortal so no stargate and no twilight. What is the response?

[@Altercate]

It depends on the matchup and situation! The key to scouting is to use the information you learn and apply it to the specific situation you're in at the moment. For example, your opponent is opening with Immortals, and you're Terran going for Marine, Marauder, Medivac. This could be a timing window, and I would try to do some damage before they get Colossus. On the other hand, if you're Protoss and you're opening Blink Stalkers, you might be in trouble, and you should consider adding Zealots to help against the Immortals. I hope this helps!

[@JohnnyLt]

More sc2 tutorials?

[@Altercate]

I hope to make more! It's been hard to find the time lately, unfortunately.

[@vovka9732]

Fire

[@cheeeeeesewithbadmouseandk1044]

Opponent after they scouted my base: oh he doesn’t have a factory so he might be proxying Mind game 100 because I just forgot and not proxying

[@Altercate]

LOL

[@elioonorio1261]

Love u

[@PetterssonRobin]

Commenting for the algo :)

[@Altercate]

Thank you! 😀

[@killerbrine6925]

I got overwhelmed by the race lvl requirment to play versus so i'm just playing co-op(commander lvl will cap at lvl unless u buy it) Oh shi...... i'm sad. Still fun tho

[@killerbrine6925]

And u have my sub

[@Altercate]

@@killerbrine6925 Thank you and glad you enjoyed the video! By race level requirement, do you mean the requirement to unlock ranked ladder?

[@killerbrine6925]

@@Altercate yep. I played warcraft 3 way back when i was a kid so i do know of some basics and fundementals. By basics i mean doing something stupid

[@Salammaleicu]

[@Auxilyst]

So you're tellin me not to just scout with my command center itself at the start

[@Altercate]

🤣 Can't believe I forgot to mention that as an option!

[@sethmiller2797]

10:50

[@9georgie9]

Comment

[@謝綾音]

知彼知己，百战不殆

[@Altercate]

我也这么认为！

[@appleguy2434]

Sc2 porn. Great vid!!

[@cowlevelcrypto2346]

:P

[@Altercate]

Thanks for the support! 😂

[@yusufserandogmus4118]

uyhyty